Revealed: The £4bn super loyalty complaint

Citizens Advice issues super-complaint as loyal customers continue to be penalised by over £4 billion a year.

Citizens Advice has revealed customers who stay loyal to their providers are losing out on over £4 billion a year.

The national charity has today lodged a super-complaint with the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), calling for the regulator to outline how the problem can be fixed.

The practice of overcharging loyal customers is widespread and Citizens Advice has repeatedly warned that loyal consumers are being ripped off.

Research by Citizens Advice found that across 5 essential markets (mobile, broadband, home insurance, mortgages and savings):

• British consumers lose £4.1 billion a year to the loyalty penalty.

• 8 in 10 people are paying a significantly higher price, in at least one of the markets, for remaining with their existing supplier.

• The loyalty penalty is, on average, £877 per year – equal to 3% of the average household’s total annual expenditure.

“It beggars belief that companies in regulated markets can get away with routinely punishing their customers simply for being loyal. As a result of this super-complaint, the CMA should come up with concrete measures to end this systematic scam’ says Citizens Advice Chief Executive Gillian Guy.

The Government’s price cap in the energy market will bring down loyal customers’ bills by £75 per year on average. Citizens Advice analysis shows that excessive prices for loyal customers can be just as high – if not more so – in other markets.